Henry Clay Russell was a member of Comany H, 2nd Regiment, Iowa Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. After the war, Russell became a member of the United States Police in the West Tennessee District, and then was a state legislator in Nebraska. There he held the positions of Commissioner of Public Lands and Buildings, Department Commander of the Nebraska G. A. R., and postmaster of Schuyler, Nebraska, in Colfax County.

The Henry Clay Russell collection primarily contains manuscript letters, written by Russell to his sister, Mary E. Russell (Miles) of Crawfordsville, Iowa. Letters describe his military activity, his wounds and living situations, and ask for information about family and friends in Iowa. The majority of the letters are written from Memphis, where Russell spent the final years of the war and then joined the United States Police for the West Tennesee District. Though the stream of letters ends in Memphis in 1865, Russell made his final home in Nebraska, and the collection includes a mourning resolution by Nebraska's G. A. R., issued at Russell's death, and a copy of the Schulyer Sun of July 9, 1902, in which there is a long article about Russell's funeral service.